A Birthday Kiss?
by Rikkumi
Summary: February Seventh-Aerith's birthday. A surprise party and some flufftastic Clerith. Fairly AU. Rated K .


February 7th is Aerith's birthday, so I'm posting something the night before. (: Note: every cliché ever will be used in this fic. It is corny as hell and all most characters are OOC. Just let a girl right some pointless fluff, alright? You have been warned.

"Happy birthday, Aerith!"

The flower girl stood paralyzed at the entrance of Seventh Heaven. A crowd of familiar faces greeted her at the front of the bar, glowing smiles on each face as they jumped up from their hiding spots.

"Oh no," ninja-girl Yuffie Kisaragi snorted. "Somebody go pry her off the doorway, pronto!"

A spiky-headed blonde was about to get up when Tifa rushed over to her friend, pulling her out into the decorated bar. Streamers and balloons hung from the rafters, Christmas lights wrapped around wooden beams and home-made pictures of Aerith made by Marlene taped to the walls.

"Hope you like it," Tifa said as she motioned towards all of this.

Aerith's o-shaped mouth formed a grin as her wondered green eyes examined all of it. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I-I've never had a surprise party before!"

Cheers erupted from the group, and the real party began. As Barret served drinks at the counter, Marlene on his shoulders, Vincent and the Turks began playing a board game at one of the tables—they had offered to bring dice and a deck of cards but Barret insisted on PG games only so they were playing Monopoly instead—and various friends of Tifa's spread out across what had transformed into a dance floor as Yuffie took over the DJ's job.

Tifa looked at her friend, who although smiling, still seemed somewhat shell-shocked. "You look scared. Something wrong?"

"Nah, I'm fine. I'm just…not used to this many people. I'm kind of scared to talk!"

Tifa couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Did I just hear Aerith Gainsborough, the girl who has strong armed ex-SOLDIERs into cross-dressing and out-talked the toughest of AVALANCHE members, say that she's _scared_?"

"Maybe. Only a little!"

"Well that's no good. This is your birthday party, after all." Tifa stroked her imaginary beard for a few moments before snapping her fingers at the thought of an idea. "I know! We'll get Cloud to be your bodyguard. Y'know, so you won't have to be scared."

Before Aerith could protest or roll her eyes or _anything, _Tifa had motioned Cloud over from his spot near the Monopoly table, where Rude was cursing at Vincent, to whom he owed seven million dollars for landing on a space with two hotels.

"You need something?" The twenty-something asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Yes, actually," Tifa smirked. "Aerith overhear was just talking about how shifty some of my friends look. We need you to be her bodyguard."

"Tifa, this is ridiculous. I could beat up any one of those—"

"Sure," Cloud said. "I'll do it."

Tifa clapped her hands and then was quick to abandon them, claiming to be in search of a roll of paper towel that had gone missing.

Aerith sighed. "I'm sorry, Cloud. You can totally go back to watching them play Monopoly."

Cloud bit his lip for a moment, racking his brain for something good to say. "And be bored to tears as Vincent and Reno duke it out over who gets Hong Kong? I'll take you over that any day."

She laughed. "I'll take it as a compliment. Who's winning, by the way?"

"Vincent, obviously. Guess he was a businessman-type back in the day." He looked at her and a small smile grew on his face as he saw her chuckling into her hand. "…You could say I've been watching them play a little too long."

"Wanna get a drink then?" She was warming up as she conversed more and more with someone she was familiar with.

"Ah, sure."

They made their way over to the bar counter where Barret was busy mixing up concoctions and telling Marlene not to touch the vodka. "What can I get ya?" He asked as he slid a tall tumbler over to someone Aerith didn't recognize.

The two looked at each other. "Uh…um…I'll have a fruity kiddy-cocktail," Aerith finally decided. She wasn't much into alcohol.

"I'll have a soda then," Cloud nodded, and in a minute or so their drinks were in front of them. They sipped slowly, content with glancing up at each other every once and a while and occasionally guffawing as Barret did his best to keep the wine-os back from behind the counter, mumbling something about "too many goddamn people" and that "this is such a bad influence for Marlene" and how "Tifa needs to stop socializing so damn much".

The punk-pop music that had been filtered out as background noise came to an abrupt halt as Yuffie picked up the microphone lying on the ground near the DJ booth and slammed her palm down onto it. "Alright, everybody! First off, I'd like to personally wish Aer a happy birthday! Second, we'll be kicking you all out right after this song, so if you want free drinks get them now or never. The last song is going to be a slo-o-o-o-w song so grab your loved one—or whatever drunken slob happens to be next to you and dance. Yuffie out!"

Aerith turned to Cloud, who was sitting with his eyes down and his cheeks burning. "Hey, Cloud…?"

"Y-yeah?"

"Well, you're sitting next to me, so I figured…would you dance with me?" She paused. "It is my birthday, I'd like to remind you."

He looked at her and gave her a half smile. "…Sure."

She pulled him up and led him to the center of the floor, taking his hands in her own and beginning to sway to the music. Her usual confident grin was obvious even in the dark lit space, helping temporarily to calm Cloud's jitters as he followed her lead. He wished he could say something…

"Oi, folks! Show's over!" Yuffie shouted once again into the microphone and shocked the two out of their dancing trance. Cloud accidentally jumped back a bit, almost knocking over another dancer. "Yeah, yeah," Yuffie continued, "Aerith didn't open her presents yet. She'll do it later. Now scram!"

After everyone had filed out, it was Tifa, Barret, Cloud, and of course, Aerith left in the wake of the disaster.

"Oh, you guys are still here? Great! Here's some disinfectant and a rag." Tifa shoved the items into Cloud and Aerith's hands and shoed them away as she and Barret began wiping off tables. Marlene had already been coerced into going to bed.

As they scrubbed an odd green substance off the wall, Cloud said quietly, "Crazy party, huh?"

"I guess it was. I had a really good time though." She stopped for a moment and snuck a quick look at him. "I hope you did too."

"Oh, no—I mean, yes, of course I did!" Although his words fumbled to get out, the young man still managed not to crack his voice. "Here, let me ah…finish that for you."

"If you insist," Aerith laughed, and sat down on a chair as he scrubbed away the rest of the gunk, trying not to fidget. "I feel bad, I really can finish it—" she said as she stood and attempted to steal her rag back from him.

"No, no, I've got it—"

"But it was my—"

"Aer, it's your birth—"

In all of her struggle to get the rag back, the girl had accidentally pulled his shirt down with it. Her face reddened as she looked up to discover his own mere millimeters away. He was bent over her, one arm on the wall, the other draped over her hip.

Once again, the Chocobo-head froze and then jumped up, hitting his head against a rafter as he did so.

They looked at each other and laughed.

After an hour or so of cleaning, the bar was finally respectable, and everyone began parting ways. "Come back for your presents tomorrow, okay Aerith?" Tifa said as she walked her to the door.

"Of course!"

Cloud shuffled out behind her as they stepped out into the cold late-night air. "Hey, Aerith," he said casually, catching up with her easily on the sidewalk as they began their different treks home.

"Mm?" She turned to face him, her eyes kind and smile sweet.

Without any warning, any stutter, any indication of any sort, he planted a kiss on her pale pink lips, soft and warm and quite nearly perfect. Slowly they parted.

"Have a good night," he whispered, as snow began to dust the sidewalk.

"Th-thanks…" Her hands touched her burning face as he rode off to his home.


End file.
